Fire strike 'could end' for major emergency

The firefighters' leader today suggested that firemen and women would leave picket lines to deal with an emergency during the 48-hour strike which starts tonight.

Andy Gilchrist, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, was meeting Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to discuss the Government's contingency plans for dealing with the walk-out by up to 50,000 firefighters from 6pm.

Mr Gilchrist said firemen and women were "humanitarians" and would offer any help to their fellow citizens.

Asked whether that meant they would leave picket lines to help deal with an emergency, Mr Gilchrist replied: "There is every possibility that that is what they would do."

But the union leader said there were practical difficulties because the firefighters would not be at work so would not necessarily hear about any emergencies.

"I want to look at the Government's proposals."

Mr Gilchrist met Mr Prescott at the Deputy Prime Minister's office in Whitehall last night and the two sides agreed to meet again today.

"We have agreed to come back and look at any proposals they have for catastrophic events such as a terrorist incident."

Mr Gilchrist said he has already told the Government that in the past "ad hoc" arrangements had been put in place based on the "humanitarian" feelings of firefighters.

But the Government is believed to want a stronger commitment from the unions and was pointing out that a code of conduct was drawn up by the TUC over 20 years ago for dealing with emergencies during strikes.

Mr Gilchrist said of the government plan: "We see considerable practical difficulties in what they are proposing. If people are away from work how do we get them back to work."

He said he would be pointing out to the Deputy Prime Minister that the only way to resolve the dispute was to give a "significant" pay rise to firefighters.

Ministers are particularly concerned that cover would be provided if there was a major terrorist attack.

Just two days ago Prime Minister Tony Blair said the security services were warning on an almost daily basis of terrorist threats to a wide range of targets in the UK.

Local government minister Nick Raynsford was set to chair an emergency meeting of officials and fellow ministers today.

The meeting, in Downing Street's Cobra crisis room, was checking details of strike cover being provided by the military.

Thousands of troops will use ageing Green Goddess fire tenders in an attempt to maintain some level of emergency service.

But ministers warned that the strike could put lives in peril.

Other workers, including those on underground transport systems such as the London Tube, could refuse to work if they believed their safety was at risk.

Nineteen London Tube stations will definitely close during the 48-hour stoppage.

Unions have said they will support members taking action, which could spark disputes across British industry.

The fire row, which has been smouldering since April, has flared into the biggest industrial relations crisis since Labour returned to power.

Mr Blair's official spokesman last night said: "The Prime Minister's strong belief is that this is both wrong, unjustified, unnecessary.

"It has the potential to be very damaging - it does put safety at risk, we have to accept that.

"If you look at the whole context, the framework of the discussions around this dispute, we have bent over backwards to be as reasonable as we possibly can."

The Government urged people to continue to dial 999 if there is a fire in a house or another incident that requires the emergency services.

The public was also being warned to be more aware of any potential dangers from fire and to check smoke alarms.

Businesses across the country were told to take action to prevent workplace deaths during the strike.

Meanwhile, Tristan Ashby, spokesman for the Retained Firefighters Union (RFU), said his members were being wrongly accused of taking part in the strike.

"The worst thing is that our members are getting spat at and called names in the street because the media is giving the impression that all the firefighters are going on strike when they are continuing to serve their communities."

He said that of the 18,000 firefighters in the country, 6,000 were not in any union and a further 4,500 were in the RFU. A total of 60% of fire stations were covered by retained firefighters, he said.

"This morning you would have thought that the world was going to end and every fire station was going to shut and we are all going to rely on the army. That is not the case," he said.

The Labour MP for Cannock Chase, Tony Wright, called for lower speed limits to be put in place on motorways during the strikes.

He said: "A lower speed limit on motorways would save lives during the present fire dispute and that is why I want to see this introduced as a matter of urgency.

"The fire service spends much of its time these days cutting people out of motorway crashes, and a lower speed limit would at least help to reduce the number of serious incidents.

"This is a practical and sensible step that we can take to save lives during the present strike, which is why I am pressing the Government to act now."

The union leaders held almost three hours of talks with officials from the deputy prime minister's office, mainly about the level of cover available in the event of an emergency.

Mr Prescott arrived at around 1.30pm to meet the union officials to continue the discussions.